Protective coatings are used in a variety of industries for a myriad of purposes. In some instances, coatings may simply provide environmental protection from dirt or debris. In other instances, a hermetic seal may be provided by a coating in order to prevent moisture or other environmental elements from accessing otherwise sensitive components. For example, some components may include materials that are subject to corrosive degradation (e.g., oxidation, galvanic corrosion, etc.).
In yet other examples, it is desirable to protect surfaces of a structure or a device from incurring scratching or other surface damage, whether due to anticipated use or due to accidental impact. For example, it is desirable to protect the screen of a smartphone, tablet or touchscreen of other computing devices from potential scratching or even cracking and breaking due to impact.
In other examples, materials may be exposed to harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation such as may be experienced due to prolonged exposure to the sun. In various circumstances, it may be desirable to protect the exposed materials from such UV radiation without unduly altering the appearance of the structure or device (e.g., without painting or placing some other opaque covering over the device or structure).
In yet other situations, it is desirable to provide a coating that provides performance enhancement for a given device. For example, it may be desirable to provide an antireflective coating or some other optically enhancing coating to a desired structure or device. One particular example includes the use of coatings for photovoltaic (PV) modules, also referred to as solar panels.
The prior art includes a variety of paints, epoxies, varnishes, waterproofing substances, and various materials which have been used in an attempt to dissipate impact force, resist scratching, provide chemical corrosion resistance, prevent UV degradation of the coating or the material which is coated, and for other related purposes. However, it is desirable in the industry to provide improved materials for various protective and performance enhancing purposes.